Container closure



April 26, 1960 p sc ETAL CONTAINER CLOSURE Filed July 6, 1959 INVENTORSHerman Pesch BY Isaac Wilcox ATTORNEY CONTAINER CLOSURE Herman Pesch,Fulton, and Isaac L. Wilcox, South Fulton, N.Y., assignors toSealright-Oswego Falls Corporation, Fulton, N.Y., a corporation of NewYork Application July 6, 1959, Serial No. 825,348

3 Claims. (Cl. 215--41) This invention relates to container closures andparticularly to closures moulded from sheet plastic material forapplication to bottle tops having an external bead, such as milkbottles. The closure to which this invention is directed is of thegeneral type disclosed in Patent No. 2,869,746, to I. L. Wilcox, January20, 1959. Closures of that type are used extensively as caps for what isknown as the 38 millimeter milk bottle.

This invention has as an object a closure which, by its structuralarrangement, can be moulded from plastic sheeting of considerablylighter caliber than heretofore used. Inasmuch as about eighty percentof the total cost of the closure resides in the cost of the plasticsheet, a substantial reduction in the caliber of the sheeting effects asubstantial reduction in the cost of the closure.

The invention has as a further object a bottle closure moulded fromexceedingly light caliber sheet plastic material embodying anarrangement whereby the cap is quickly and properly applied to thebottle top by conventional capping heads, without any deleteriousdeformation of the cap and which, when applied, is efiective to seal thebottle and which will not become displaced in the usual handling of thebottle.

The invention consists in the novel features and in the combinations andconstructions hereinafter set forth and claimed.

In describing this invention, reference is had to the accompanyingdrawings in which like characters designate corresponding parts in allthe views.

In the drawings:

Figure l is'a side elevational view of a closure embodying ourinvention.

Figure 2 is a transverse sectional view of two of the caps illustratingthe caps in stack formation.

Figure 3 is a side elevational view of the closure-ap plied to a bottletop, the left portion of the figure being in section.

The closure consists of a top discoidal portion which extends over thetop of the bottle B. A skirt portion 11 depends from the periphery ofthe portion 10 and terminates in an outwardly extending radial flange12. This flange extends outwardly and upwardly, as seen best in Figure 2of the drawings. A cylindrical flange 13 depends from the peripheraledge of the flange 12 and terminates in an outwardly flared rim 14.

The cylindrical-portion 13 is substantially the same diameter, orslightly greater than the maximum diameter of the bottle bead as at 16whereby, upon initial relative axial movement between the bottle and theclosure, the closure becomes centered on the bottle. The diameter at thelower edge of the skirt, adjacent the flange 12, is slightly less thanthe diameter of the bottle bead at the point 20 engaged by the loweredge of the skirt when the cap is applied to the bottle.

The skirt 11 is of conical formation. However, the angle of inclinationof the skirt in regard to the axis of the closure is relatively slightwhereby the mid point of the skirt, indicated at 21, Figure 2. is ofsuch diameter as to cause the skirt 11 to conform to and snugly engagethe bead of the bottle when the cap is applied thereto, but yet not tocause the skirt portion to be stretched be-, yond its elastic limit. Forapplication to the standard 38 millimeter milk bottle, the angle of theskirt 11 is 4' to 4 /2", as distinguished from the conventional plasticcap having an angle of 8, or more.

The flange 12 is inclined outwardly and upwardly to provide a seat onwhich the rim 14 of the cap next above is positioned when the caps arearranged in stack formation. This inclination of the flange 12 resultsin the skirts 11 of the caps in the stack being spaced slightly apart,or not snugly engaging each other. Due to the slight taper of the skirtsof the closures, any engagement of the skirts in the stack formationwould make it difficult to separate the caps in the stack. Accordingly,because of the inclined flange 12, the caps are conveniently separatedin the stack for feeding and application to the bottle tops but yet theskirts 11, in an axial direction, are of maximum length for maximumengagement with the bottle head.

These caps are supplied to the bottle tops by an annular applicatormember positioned on the rim 14. When relative axial movement iseffected between the applicator and the bottle, considerable pressure isapplied on the rim 14 to effect application of the cap to the bottle.The rim 14 is formed with one or more circumferentially extendingcorrugations or ridges 24. This corrugation serves to stiffen the rimand to prevent it from pleating due to the downward force applied by thecap applicator. In order for the rim 14 to fold downwardly and thereforebecome of reduced diameter, the rim must pleat in one or more places.Due to the fact that this cap is formed of exceedingly thin plasticsheeting in the order of .006 to .008 of an inch in thickness, therewould be a tendency of the rim to pleat and fold down, which wouldprevent proper application of the cap to the bottle top. However, thecorrugations 24 eifectively serve to prevent this pleating even thoughthe cap is formed of such thin material.

What we claim is:

l. A container closure molded of thin sheet plastic material forapplication to containers having an external bead at the top edgethereof, said closure comprising a central discoidal top portion foroverlying the top of the container and being of less diameter than thecontainer bead, a skirt depending from the periphery of said dis coidalportion, said skirt terminating at its lower edge in an external radialflange inclined upwardly and outwardly, a cylindrical portion dependingfrom the periphery of said flange and having a diameter comparable tothe diameter of the container bead, said cylindrical portion terminatingin an outwardly flared rim and said rim being formed with acircumferentially extending reinforcing ridge.

2. A container closure molded from thin sheet plastic material forapplication to containers having an external bead at the top edgethereof, said closure comprising a central discoidal top portion foroverlying the top edge of the container and having a diameter less thanthe container bead, a skirt diverging downwardly from the periphery ofsaid discoidal portion at an angle not to exceed 4%", said skirtterminating at its lower edge in an external radial flange, acylindrical portion depending from the periphery of said flange andhaving a diameter comparable to the diameter of the container bead, saidcylindrical portion terminating in an outwardly flared rim and said rimbeing formed with a circumferentially extending reinforcing ridge.

3. A container closure molded of thin sheet plastic material forapplication to containers having an external head at the top edgethereof, said closure comprising a,

V 3 w it diseoidal portion for overlying the top of the container andhaving a. diameter less than the container head; a conical skirtdepending from the periphery of said discoidal portion at an angle notgreater than l /1 and terminating at its lower edge in an externalradial flange inclined upwardly and outwardly, a cylindrical portiondepending from the periphery of said flange and having -a diametercomparable to the diameter of the container bead, said cylindricalportion terminating in an outwardly flared rim formed with acircumferentially extending re- 6 inforcing ridge.

No references cited.

